Kalden Dhatsenpa

Published work

Lausan • 24th April 2026

The forgotten path of Tibetan communism - Lausan

Editors’ note: This essay by Tibetan-Canadian journalist and poet Kalden Dhatsenpa reviews the memoirs of one of the key founders and leaders of the Tibetan Communist Party, Phuntsok Wangyal. Wangyal’s memoirs are edited and translated into English as A Tibetan Revolutionary: The Political Life and Times of Bapa Phüntso Wangye (University of California Press, 2004).

Yeshe • 30th August 2023

Four Poems

Kalden Rangdröl Dhatsenpa’s poem ‘Bandit Enlightenment, or the Real Shangri-la’ juxtaposes religious philosophy and realism without suggesting the negation of either of the two. Kalden Rangdröl Dhatsenpa also enriches the English language by seamlessly bringing to it Tibetan exclamatory words such as ‘e-ma-ho’, ‘Ki’, and ‘kikisoso lha gyalo’ in his poetry.

Canadian Dimension • 30th August 2023

The day the bubble burst: ‘Akira’ and Japan’s economic ‘miracle’

Akira was made at the tail-end of a dying studio system, and at the apogee of Japan’s asset bubble, which began its slow burst in 1989. The scale of Akira’s story makes it even more remarkable that such a film was able to see the light of day given the floundering of Japan’s economy at the close of the decade.

10th April 2023

Atlantis, Ukraine

Ukraine’s military-entertainment complex has found success in Atlantis; it has the artistic subtlety that other Ukranian war films lacked, but it didn’t have to sacrifice any of the military connections, or right-wing political aspirations.

10th April 2023

‘Triangle of Sadness’ is a flawed rebuke of the billionaire class

Östlund is playing with all the right and relevant pieces and themes. The film is brimming with great moments, but it also lacks sharpness in its commentary. Triangle of Sadness is a caricature of the wealthy—and a decent one at that—but caricatures seldom offer much more than entertainment.

The Breach • 11th January 2023

Canada birthed a mining industry in Tibet

The steady flow of minerals from Tibet’s sacred mountains to global markets is haunted by the ghost of Canadian mining companies.

In the Chinese-occupied nation, Canadian companies were among the first to gain access to the copper, gold, lead and zinc under its peaks—making Canada, for a time, a major foreign investor in Tibet.

Commo Mag • 21st December 2021

I Just Wanna Talk!

I drive to a car wash near me in little italy. I think the owners are Iranian. None of the garage doors are motorized. They were pulling them open and closed with bare hands on steel chains in the middle of winter.

The Breach • 11th November 2021

Infiltrating Amazon: What I learned going undercover at the corporate giant ⋆

Photography for The Breach. Canon 6D at the Amazon facility in Lasalle.

About Me

Kalden Rangdrol Dhatsenpa is a Tibetan writer, poet, photographer, and community journalist based in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal. His work is concerned with radical politics, social movements, community, diaspora, memory, and place. Working across journalism, poetry, and photography, he seeks to document and interpret the forces that shape collective life.

He is the host of Local 514, a Montreal news podcast recognized as one of the Best Podcasts in Montreal in the 2026 Cult MTL Readers' Poll. Kalden serves on the editorial board of Canadian Dimension and is a former federal candidate for the New Democratic Party.

His work has appeared in Lausan, Carte Blanche, Discordia, Canadian Dimension, Commo Mag, The Breach, Yeshe Journal and elsewhere.